Shear



SHEAR Filed Jan. 13, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. Frank X. Bonneau United States Patent O chinery Electriication Inc., lWorcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application January 1s; 1954; serial- No. 4033676 s Claims. (ci. 164-41) This invention relates to shears-andmore particularly to anapparatus for'severing wire/that is moving transversely of its' length.

In the'fabrication of insulated wire and the likeit'is cus'- tor'nary to coil accurate lengths vof the'iinishedproductfor easeA in handling. In orderl to` do" this machines? have been developed having two coiling drums, one dril'rnY always receiving the wire. The other-d1uneis, thusL-in such a condition that'th'e operator may remove a nished`r coil of wire' therefrom. A traversing m'e'chanisiinselects-lthe drum on which the wire will be coiled and carries-ftl'r'ey wire frorn'one drum to the other when theone'di'urh isflled. In traversing from one drum toy another, however', a strand of wire lremains connecting the two drurs. In' the past a large' knife has been thrown in'to the" space between thel drums byv means of a solenoid andthe wire strikes the knife, whereuponthe wire'isfsevered.V Many difficulties' have been experienced with the usel off thisniea'ns of cutting the wire' between coils. For one`- thing, the eutting is a matter of accident, so the'time within which it takes place is not definite. The cutting is` by impactland the severed ends are, therefore, ragged orJ frayed. These and other diticulties' of the prior artV are-obviated by the present invention.

Itis, therefore, an outstanding object ofthe invention to providea shearfor cutting wire which is n'iovingv at randoni transversely of its length. p

Another object of this inventionistheprovision of` an apparatus for use with a two-drum coiler for severing 'wire extending therebetween.

It is a still further object of the presentinventionf to provide a shear for cutting elongated materia-l iii-'anunspported portion thereof.

Another object of the invention is the'p'rovision of an apparatus for severing an elongated article in aportion thereof in which one end is moved in a circlei while? the other end moves in a similar circleinv a different phase' thereof.

It is also an object of the invention to provide'a shearing means for transversely moving wire, wherein the wire is guided to a xed cutting position and'r'mly held-during shearing.

`Although the novel features which are believedl to be characteristic of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto, the invention itself, as to its vobjects and advantages, the Inode of its operation and the manner of its organization may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming' a part thereof in which Figure l is a` side elevational vieW of the invention in use with a coiler with portions broken away for clarity of presentation,

Figure 2 is a front elevational view showing the invention,

`Figure 3 is a side View of a portion of the invent/ion, somewhat enlarged over the showing of Fig'u're 1, and

Figure -4 isa-sectional View` of the portionA of the inventionshown inFigure 3 taken on th'e'lin`elIV-'I\/"v thereofi Likereference characters denote similar parts in-the several figures ofthe drawings.

Referring first to lFigure" 1, wherein are best-shown the general 'features' of` the' invention, the' shear,l designated generally by the reference' character 10, is'v1 shown A as mounted on a coile'r ll''betweentwo-coaxialEv drums 12- and 13. The drums are mounted on the forward: side ofa casin`g'114 and' are adapted to be swungoutwardly-awayffrom the'lc'asing by meansof hinges'l'S; 16vhavin'g verticalpivot pins. The'drums ft2-ands 13fareI provided, respectively, with driving means 1' 7y and 18 and with large circular flanges` 19 and-20.- Cylindrical bodies 21 and 2'2'for'1n partsof the drums 17fand'18a'nd'coil-retaining fingers-23 e'xtendradially from* the adjacent,` inner ends of the bodies. Tliesefingers arefhin'gedly connected to -theirrespective bodies' and are 'capable of being'mov'ed'onf occa# sion' to' positionsmoreor-lessfcoexten'sive with the surfaces of "the bodies torernove a" coil of wire'.V

Bloeks Z4 andt'ZSeare'locatedv adjacent the sidesof-tl're casing* 1'4 of the' coiler and' between these'blocks extends la horizontald'ri`ve1`1"`traversel screw-26.: Mounted on" the sere'wf and movedfroin sideftof side of the4 coilerv byv the rotation -thereof"is` a-traverse member- 27 having al guide wheel 2S."-

y '1`\l'1`e"shear-1y ib? of the*invention-comprises a main body 29 which'is fastened inabver'tic'alfpositionto thecentr'al front of' the casing'illi of thecoilei'"l by means of angles 36"' and 313i".` The. main body'is` preferably formed from steel? plate and-has' a rear edge? 329Wh'ich engages and closely` follows 'the' frontsurface of'thefca'sin'g' i4; anupper edge' 33`feXtends forwardlyV and'slightly'upward from-the casing. A forwardedge 34'of the mainbody extends upwardly andfor'wardlyfrorn the 'lower portion of= the casing and merges into' a; curvedportion 35,I which'willbe' describedmore'fully hereinafter. Somewhat short of the p oint at which the upper edge' 33 andthe curved portion 35 'wouldrneet if extended', the main' body terminates-ina short vertical-edge; A'har'dened steel hook Sol-is 4fastened to themain body in this portion;

elec'tric` `motor 37' isvertically mounted withinthe casingV 14; It: is connected to the inputshaft of avgear reduction unit 38; The output shaft 39 ofthe u'n'itf has keyed thereto one end of' a crank arm 4i). The'othe'rend of the'arni 40`ispivotally attached tofthe lower" end of a connecting rod 41 for 360 relative rotative movement therebetween; To the upper end of the connectingl rod`41 is'thre'ade'dly fastened'a clevis- 42. The upp'e'rend of" the clevist is pivotally connected to one endy of a lever 43, the other end of which is' pivotally connected andy fulcrumed'to'the main body 2'9 ina portion thereof adjacent the intersection of the rear edge 32 and the upper edge 33. The intermediate portion of the' lever is pivotally 55` attachedto the rearward end of an actuating arm 44,- the forward endof which is pivotally attached to one end of a blade 45.

Some ofthe important relationships between the elements' of the invention are best shown in Figures 3 and 4. It can be seen thatv the actuating arm 44- is bent at an angle of about adjacent its connection to the lever 43. At the other end it is provided with a curved, bifurcated nend portion 46 which embraces the' end of the bladel 45 towhich it isV connected. The more or less central portion of the lblade is pivotally connected to the hook 3,'6 by means of a pivot pin 47. The curved portion 35 of the forward edge of main body 29 merges with an inner cutting edge 48'of the hook 36, the curve thus' defined being unbroken. They curve is more' or less of'a" spiral', the curvature becoming: progressively smaller from its beginning in the lower' par-t of the main body to its end on the extremity of the hook. The cutting edge of the 'hook is approximately circular, particularly 1n its intermediate, forward portion. The center of this c1rcl e lies approximately on the axis of the cylindrical bodies 12 and i3 of the drums of the coiler. The circle 1s relatively small, however, being of a diameter somewhat larger than that of the largest size wire that is to be severed. A concave circular cutting edge 49 is provided on the blade 45, this edge being so situated that, when the blade is rotated in a clockwise manner about the pivot pin 47, the edge 49 substantially completes circle with the circular portion of the edge 48 at one position in its travel.

Figure 4 shows particularly well the manner in which the hook 36 is attached to the main body 29 by means of bolts Sil. This view also shows the manner in which the bifurcated end portion 46 of the actuating arm 4d embraces the blade 36. It should be noted, also, in this view that the lever 43 is composed of two identical pieces, between which are sandwiched the portions of the main body 29, the clevis 42, and the actuating arm 44 adjacent their pivotal connections to the lever.

The operation of the invention will now be understood in view of the above description. Finished wire passes over the guide pulley 28 onto the body 22 of the drum 13. By rotating in alternate directions, the screw 26 causes the traverse member 27 to move back and forth over the said body. The drum is rotated by the drive means 18 and the wire is coiled in successive layers on the body. When a suflicient length of wire has been coiled on the drum i3, the screw 26 moves the traverse member Z7 quickly to a position overlying the drum l2, where it begins moving back and forth again. Before the traverse member moves between the drums and carries the wire with it, the rotation of the drum l2 is begun and is brought up to normal operating speed. The successive layers of wire soon cover the iirst strand to be laid in the drum 12, thus locking it in place. The movement of the wire strand which connects the two drums is rather peculiar. the drum 13 is moved in a circle about the axis of the drums. Drum 213 has continued to rotate at normal operating speed. The strand originates in the outer layer of wire that has been coiled on the drum and passes axially between a pair of lingers 23. At the other end, the strand passes between two fingers of the drum 12 and is buried in the innermost layer of wire on the drum; it is thus spaced a considerable distance from the axis of the drums. Thus, one end of the strand rotates in a circle about the axis of the drums, while the other end moves in a circle which is coaxial with the drums.^ The theoretical ligure thus generated is impossible to describe, even if the wire were perfectly tight. However, the wire is usually somewhat loose and centrifugal force causes a bowing. Now, the drums are rotated in a f' counter-clockwise manner, as viewed in Figure 2. The strand moves in the manner described above and in a counter-clockwise manner. lt eventually strikes the curved portion 35 of the main body 29. The point at which it will strike the curved portion depends, of course, on the phase relationship between the drums. In any case the wire is carried upwardly and inwardly along the curve until it lodges against the circular portion of the cutting edge 48 of the hook 36. Because of the nature of the movement of the strand it will remain so situated indefinitely. However, at a suitable time a control, not shown, will energize the motor 37 which will drive the gear reducing unit 38 and bring about the rotation of the output shaft 39. The control must energize the motor for a length of time sufficiently long to cause at least 'i one complete rotation of the output shaft. The crank shaft 44 will, thus, make at least one complete rotation. The rotation of the crank shaft brings about a reciprocation of the connecting rod 4l; this rotates the lever 43 about its pivotal connection with the main body 29. The

The end which is attached to actuating arm 44 is moved with a generally horizontal reciprocating motion, carrying the end of the blade 45 with it. The motion of the blade is, of course, one of rotation about the pivot pin 47. The end of the blade which carries the circular cutting edge 49 moves from a position well within the outline of the hook 36 to a position wherein the cutting edge forms substantially a complete circle with the circular portion of the cutting edge 4S of the hook and then to a position when the cutting edge 49 has completely passed the cutting edge 43. The blade then moves in the reverse direction and returns to its initial position of rest within the outline of the hook. Since the strand of wire is located within the hook adjacent the circular portion of the cutting edge 4S, it is cut by the engagement of the two cutting edges. With the strand severed, the operator can stop the drum 13 and then swing it outwardly from the casing ld about the hinge i6 into unloading position and, after moving the fingers 23 into their retracted positions coextensive with the surface of the drum, he can remove the coil of wire. He then moves the drum back into its operative position adjacent the front of the coiler casing.

While certain novel features of the invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A shear for wire and the like comprising a hook having a broad hat surface and an inner cutting edge that is approximately semi-circular in part, a blade having a at surface and a cutting edge that is approximately semi-circular and of the same diameter as the cutting edge of the hook, the hook and the blade being mounted with their ilat surfaces in juxtaposition, a spiral-edged body associated with the hook for guiding wire into the hook, and means for bringing about relative movement between the hook and blade to cause their at surfaces to slide along one another and their cutting edges to pass one another, the spiral having its center generally coincidental with the center of the cutting edge of the hook, the spiral merging at its inner portion with the cutting edge of the hook, the extreme end of the hook extending toward the inner portion of the spiral beyond a line from the center of curvature of the cutting edge to the outer portion of the spiral, so that the wire will have difficulty in leaving the hook after entering the hook.

2. A shear for cutting wire and the like comprising a motor, a reduction unit driven by the motor and having an output shaft, a crank arm keyed at one end to the output shaft, a connecting rod connected at one end to the other end of the crank arm, a lever to which the other end of the connecting rod is attached, a main body to which the lever is pivotally connected, an actuating arm connected at one end to the lever, a flat hook having an inner cutting edge that is approximately semicircular in part fixedly connected to the main body at a portion thereof substantially spaced from the connection thereto with the lever, means for guiding wire into the hook, a flat blade having at one end a concave cutting edge that is approximately semi-circular and of the same diameter as the cutting edge of the hook pivotally attached to the hook, the other end of the actuating arm being pivotally connected to the end of the blade opposite the cutting edge, the means for guiding the wire consisting of a member formed in a spiral merging at its inner portion with the cutting edge of the hook, the extreme end of the hook extending toward the inner portion of the spiral beyond a line from the center of curvature of the cutting edge to the outer portion of the spiral so that the wire will have difculty in leaving the hook after entering the hook.

5 3. A shear as recited in claim 2, wherein the blade is pivotally mounted on the hook for sliding movement on the hook, the pivotal connection between the blade and the hook being so located that at one point in the said movement the two cutting edges form a substantially continuous curve.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 927,359 Kleinsmith July 6, 1909 6 Kickler June 27, 1933 Buys July 25, 1933 Cook July 15, 1947 Columber Oct. 3, 1950 Altenpohl Feb. 20, 1951 Nebel Apr. 27, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Nov. 3, 1905 

